Xenia Ivanov
Xenia Karina Ivanov is a former Olympic figure skater and sister of Roman Catholic priest Daniel Ivanov. Family History Xenia is the youngest child of Vasily Ivanov, a downhill skier and Katerina Petrov, a figure skater who defected to the United States during the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics of 1960. Wanting a life away from communist rule, the duo left in the middle of competition, taking a bus away from Lake Tahoe and arriving at Los Angeles where they asked for political asylum. Granted US citizenship, they were soon enlisted into the Olympic sporting world, Vasily coaching young hopefuls, while Katerina started making the rounds of the lucrative professional skating circuit. The couple eventually settled in San Jose to raise a family, fulfilling their dreams of living some place warm. Vasily continued to train Olympic hopefuls when Katerina gave birth to their son Daniel. Occupation Xenia was born the year the Visitors arrived on Earth. Vasily and Katerina who were more than familiar with oppression, recognized Visitor propaganda for what it was. Enlisting the aid of World Liberation Front, the global resistance network, Vasily was able to escape with his family to Fort Chimo, Canada. Xenia was born not long after. During the remainder of the Occupation, the Ivanov's remained in Fort Chimo and it it was in this environment where Xenia watched her mother teaching girls how to skate that skating world became ingrained into her pysche. Post War After the Visitors left, the Ivanov's returned to San Jose, largely because Katerina was unhappy with Daniel's attachment to Father Clearly and a life with the church. A product of communist rule, she had little patience for the church and was openly hostile to his decision. Fortunately, Xenia's desire to skate distracted her mother's attention from Daniel and over the next few years, Xenia often found herself acting as a buffer between her mother and her brother. As a result, they were very close as siblings despite the gap in their ages. Possessing her mother's stubborn streak as opposed to Vasily's more thoughtful demeanor which Daniel exhibited, Xenia often found herself protecting him from those who would mock his priestly ambitions. Although Xenia had reservations about his decision, she nonetheless supported it. Skating Xenia rose to prominence in the skating community during the 1996 United States Figure Skating Championship where she took first place, allowing her to compete at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Brisbane, Australia where she took the bronze medal. In 1998, Xenia went to the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan where she competed and took fourth place. Although she was not a medal contender, she was noted as one of the bright young stars to watch for. At this stage, Katerina who had been managing her training, placed Xenia in the hands of Tolya Dvorkin, her coach from her own competition days. Tolya, who had great affection for both Vasily and Katerina, took over Xenia's training and acted as a surrogate parent while she was away from home. The change was also a positive one as Xenia won ISU Grand Prix event in the 1998 Skate America in Colorado Springs. She also repeated this achievement as the gold medalist in the Trophée Lalique that same year and finished second in the 1998 Cup of Russia. These three placements earned her a spot to the 1999 - 2000 Grand Prix Final, where she became the gold medal champion. At the 2001 U.S. championships she won the bronze medal, and at the 2002 World Championships, held in Washington, D.C, she would win gold. Over the next few years, Xenia would be a fixture at every major event, garnering several gold and silver medals. Despite her dedication to the sport, Xenia continued her education, completing a degree in Fashion from the University of San Jose. While her main focus was skating, Xenia had an affinity for fashion as she designed and sewed most of her costumes for competition. The Swan During the 2006 Olympic games, Xenia peformed for the first time, the routine that would become her signature piece. Using Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Xenia modified a routine her mother had prepared based on Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan performance but never had a chance to perform herself. Xenia would win gold for this routine as well as earning the nickname 'the Swan'. Over the next three years, she would perfect the routine and continue competion and training in preparation for the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver, Canada. During much of this period, Xenia found herself commuting more frequently between the States and England since most of the competion was located in Europe. Behind Enemy Lines Xenia was in Zurich, preparing for the International Skating Union's World Championship when she opted to take a break in training by travelling to Italy. Refusing to allow her travel on her own, Tolya hired a private bodyguard to act as escort during the trip. Although originally ambivalent at the presence of Lukas Gisler as her minder, Xenia eventually warmed to her handsome, Swiss guardian who also proved to be an entertaining travel companion. It was during their journey through Tuscany that the Visitors invaded, deploying EMP weapons that neutralised all eletrical equipment across the planet. This caused their train to derail and it was thanks to Lukas that Xenia managed to survive the horrific crash that killed many on board. Trapped behind occupied territory, Xenia and Lukas attempted to make the crossing back to Zurich having learnt that the red dust bacteria still worked above the snowline. During their trek northwards, Xenia discovered her growing attraction to Lukas who had taken the job of protecing her because he had been a fan of the Swan for quite some time. Although he was realistic that the woman would be very different, he nevertheless found himself attracted to her bright, warm personality and it wasn't long before they consumated their relationship. However their romance was cut short when Lukas was killed just short of reaching Switzerland after freeing a truck filled with people bound for the Italian mothership. Pregnancy His death devasted Xenia, leaving her heart broken as well as guilt ridden for being unable to save him owing to what she perceived as a lack of useful skills in their tenuous situation. Xenia was convinced, she would never love anyone like Lukas again. Burying him in Brescia, she headed toward Zurich only to find out that the city had been devastated and millions had been killed including Tolya. Xenia was able to track down what remained of Lukas' family in Winterthur to deliver the news of his death. While there, a complaint of feeling resulted in Lukas' brother Jonas, a doctor, giving her an examination. It was then that Xenia learnt that she was five weeks pregnant. Daniel Determined to learn what became of her family, Xenia prepared to make the journey back to America to find Daniel whom she learned was in San Francisco. However, before she went, she wanted to ensure she was equipt to survive in Visitor controlled territory. With the help of Timms Keller, an old family friend of the Gisler, Xenia learnt the basics of hand to hand combat and the use of weapons. Because of the difficulty in Trans-Atlantic flight ovwing to the Visitor occupation, Keller arranged for Xenia to act as a courier for World Liberation Front so that she could gain passage to Quebec in the first leg of her journey to San Francisco. Personality Possessing a warm, sunny personality, Xenia also has something of a stubborn streak. She is also highly disciplined thanks to years of competition and is able to learn and adapt to new situations because of this. She is protective of those she loves and when she fails them, as she believed she failed Lukas, Xenia takes it to heart. Although appearing outwardly fragile, in truth Xenia has steel running through her. Vital Statistics Age: 27 Height: 5'6 Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue Family: *Father - Vasily (deceased) *Mother - Katerina (deceased) *Brother - Daniel Professional Occupation: Competitive Figure Skater Distinguishing Marks? Cut on her left knee after a fall during training. Place of Birth: Fort Chimo, Canada Training/Education *Bachelor of Fashion Design - University of San Jose *Olympic level figure skater *Basic use of pistols and rifles *Judo